Fred VanVleet scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors extended their franchise-best winning streak to 14 games with a 119-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, including the winning free throw with 22 seconds left for Toronto, who have also won 10 consecutive home games.
The Raptors squandered an 18-point second-half lead, allowing the visiting Nets to tie Saturday’s game 118-118 with 35 seconds left before Siakam drained the go-ahead free throw.
Terence Davis tallied 20 points, Matt Thomas had a career-best 15 and Serge Ibaka scored 12 in the win.
Caris LeVert had 37 points for Brooklyn, Spencer Dinwiddie delivered 21 points and 11 assists, DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Nets, who have won five of their last seven games.
Toronto has won the first three meetings between the teams this season.
The Raptors won despite playing without all-star guard Kyle Lowry, who missed the contest with a whiplash injury.
“At this point, I think we’re experienced enough in that realm, unfortunately,” VanVleet said of winning without Lowry. “We’ve had a ton of guys out this year. We don’t really think about it.”
The Raptors had an 18-point lead during the third quarter and led by 12 entering the fourth.
VanVleet’s jump shot stretched the lead to six, but the Nets answered with four points to cut the lead to two.
Another jump shot by LeVert tied the game 118-118 before Siakam made one of two free throws. LeVert and Harris missed shots to end the game.
Elsewhere, Giannis Antetokounmpo flirted with a triple double and Brook Lopez finished with 23 points as the Milwaukee Bucks completed a four-game season sweep of the Orlando Magic with a 111-95 victory.
The reigning league MVP Antetokounmpo finished one assist shy of the triple double as he delivered 18 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee, who have won 13 of their last 14 contests.
Antetokounmpo saw his streak of at least 30 points, 16 rebounds and six assists come to a halt.
Khris Middleton scored 21 points and 13 rebounds while Eric Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews also scored in double digits for Milwaukee, netting 18 and 12 points, respectively.
Nikola Vucevic collected 21 points and 14 rebounds for his team-leading 26th double-double for the Magic, who lost their eighth game in their last nine.
Milwaukee began the third quarter on a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 72-46. Orlando made a short-lived comeback to halve that deficit entering the fourth quarter, but the Bucks were in control the rest of the way.
“We have to keep playing good basketball,” Antetokounmpo said. “We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11. We just try to take it quarter by quarter.”
Also, Anthony Davis made three clutch free throws late in the game as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers held off the hapless Golden State Warriors 125-120.
Davis shot nine-for-13 at the line and finished with a team-high 27 points.
Avery Bradley nailed five baskets from beyond the arc en route to 21 points, and LeBron James finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists as the Lakers won for the ninth time in their last 11 road games.
Andrew Wiggins, one of four players making their debut with the Warriors, had 24 points, and Marquese Chriss scored a season-high 26 for the Warriors, who lost at home for the eighth time in their last nine games.
Also, the Minnesota Timberwolves got 24 points from Jordan McLaughlin and 23 from Malik Beasley to snap a 13-game losing streak with a 142-115 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.
